The Cream always Rises




In 1996, Dana Carvey had a comedy show. Don't worry if you don't remember it, only 8 episodes were made before it was canceled. Why is this important enough to mention more than twenty years after the fact?

Carvey was a huge deal in the mid-90s after a successful stint on Saturday Night Live, and appearing in Wayne's World and its sequel. ABC must've figured if he got a good writer's room they'd have winner.

Looking back now, we are able to see that not only did Carvey have a good writer's room, he possibly had one of the greatest ever assembled. Granted, at that time, a lot of them were unproven, but since then almost every one of them has become a major name in comedy or movies. They were a proverbial Wrecking Crew of comedic talent...


Louis CK (head writer) - now a hugely popular stand-up and auteur, who's had great success on television for a number of years...


Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert - Both became famous through The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Carell is now a big movie star...



...and Colbert took over David Letterman's slot on late night...


Robert Carlock - went on to write for SNL, Friends, 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt...

Charlie Kaufman - won an Oscar for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and also wrote Adaptation and Being John Malkovich...

Jon Glaser - wrote for Conan, Amy Schumer, and is recognizable from his recurring character, Councilman Jamm, on Parks and Recreation...

Dino Stamatopoulos - wrote for Stiller, Letterman, Conan, and played "Starburns" in Community...




 ...and Robert Smigel - wrote for Saturday Night Live and Conan and created Triumph the Insult Comedy Dog.

So, why mention all this? I think the Dana Carvey Show proves that even talented people can fail, and being talented is no guarantee of success. After the sudden cancellation of the show, each of these talented writers persevered and, eventually, they reaped their rewards.

 It might take some time, but the cream always rises to the top.

 Keep #writing


GSY

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